Nothing stimulates a hardware store’s sales like introducing craft items to the inventory! When Cathy’s parents head out on a tour of Asia, her boyfriend gets the bright idea to sell crafting supplies in their hardware store. Cathy loves anything …
Nothing stimulates a hardware store’s sales like introducing craft items to the inventory! When Cathy’s parents head out on a tour of Asia, her boyfriend gets the bright idea to sell crafting supplies in their hardware store. Cathy loves anything artistic, but she’s not so sure about messing with her dad’s shop. As soon as the first customer steps in, she starts to change her tone!
Cathy’s Crafts is an attractive time management game along the lines of the Delicious Emily series. Instead of dashing through diners or serving up floral arrangements, your job is to help customers find the craft supplies they need as efficiently as possible. Shoppers enter through the front door and take a seat at your vintage tables. They take a few moments to decide on a project, then place their order. Click on the various crafting stations located throughout the hardware store to collect everything they need. Deliver it while their patience is high, help them out if they need assistance, then collect your cash and clean off the table. Easy!
Like the Delicious Emily titles, Cathy’s Crafts follows a creative storyline that drives the gameplay forward. Several of Cathy’s friends and acquaintances stop by the shop to deliver news, supplies, and other interesting surprises. After a brief bit of dialogue, you’ll start the next level with a new twist on the gameplay. You might have a buddy helping clear tables, or you might have a cat that needs to be fed. Either way, it’s always nice to see those little surprises the game throws your way.
One thing Cathy’s Crafts does differently than most time management games is get you to choose your inventory based on customer predictions. Before each level begins you’ll see a column of shoppers on the left side of the screen, accompanied by a percentage number. Stock your shelves based on who’s likely to enter the store and you’ll rake in a lot more cash. If you’re not much of a business mogul, don’t worry about this feature too much. The game makes it very straightforward, so much so that you really can’t mess it up. Just keep clicking and queuing actions efficiently and Cathy’s day will be a success!
Gamehouse knows their way around a good time management game. Cathy’s Crafts gets absolutely everything right from beginning to end. Gameplay is smooth and satisfying, upgrades and stage variations come along at just the right time, and the story is lighthearted but interesting enough that you look forward to it between the levels. To top it all off, Cathy’s Crafts is a gorgeous game, making it one of the finest examples of a casual time management title around.
